Remember spending hours in the 1980s trying to solve that Rubik’s cube you got for Christmas? Well, let me introduce you to the brain teaser puzzle for your kids’ generation.
Moon Spinner!
Moon Spinner from ThinkFun is an ingenious puzzle that consists of rotating circles. The mission, should your kids choose to accept it, is to unscramble the colored sections into their original, rainbow-colored organization.
Note: this post contains affiliate links that may earn commission. ThinkFun sent us Moon Spinner to try out.
How to Play Moon Spinner
When your child first opens Moon Spinner they will notice how the bright colors and differently shaped puzzle pieces fit together to create interlocking rainbow crescents in an aesthetically pleasing construction.
The next thing they will do is destroy the gorgeous patterns! But don’t worry! That is what they are supposed to do! Your child does this by rotating the yellow crescent moon this way and that until the colored sections are scrambled up and it looks something like this:
Next, your child will attempt to unscramble the Moon Spinner, rotating the crescent and moving the color back to their original positions.
Thusly:
photo source: ThinkFun
Just like the Rubik’s Cube, it is HARD. Nope, I should say “challenging”. Nope. It is HARD. But totally addicting.
That is a good thing because it means your kids will be occupied for hours. In fact, they will return again and again to the puzzle, thinking, “I’ve got it figured out this time!”
Then, you–as the parent–will think your superior adult brain with its logic and brain-puzzling skills are going to make solving the puzzle a snap.
YOU WILL BE WRONG.
BUT YOU WILL KEEP TRYING. BECAUSE (as I said) IT IS ADDICTING!
You probably have a pretty good idea what’s been happening in our house lately. Yep, we are all crowding around the Moon Spinner.
Why Try to Solve the Moonspinner?
Puzzles like the Moon Spinner are excellent tools for kids to learn patience, visual problem solving and reasoning skills. When you see your child pick up the Moon Spinner for the 80th time in an attempt to finally solve it, be sure to point out how impressed you are with their determination and perseverance.
Moon Spinner is recommended for ages 8 and up.
After all, I never solved the Rubik’s Cube but was it childhood time well spent? Absolutely. And the same is true for the Moon Spinner.
And in case your kids want to reassemble the puzzle in order to start over? Well, thankfully, ThinkFun has some instructions for how to do just that.
The video below shows you how the Moon Spinner works.
More brain puzzle games of the month to enjoy:
- My First Rush Hour (great for preschoolers)
- Invasion of the Cow Snatchers (One of my son’s favorites!)
- Cat Crimes (a single person whodunnit game)
- AnimaLogic (no plastic pieces!)
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